OneMinutesJr workshop in Cetinje - Day 2

By Chris Schuepp

Cetinje, MONTENEGRO, 16 June 2013 - Day 2 of the video workshop in Cetinje and more and more of the films take shape, at least on paper. The participating teenagers from Podgorica, Kotor, Risan, Bijala, Tivat and Herceg Novi are all finishing their story ideas and story-boards so we can start filming with them in the afternoon.

Nikola (15) presenting his film idea to the trainers on the second day of the workshop in Cetinje - UNICEF / Chris Schuepp / 2013

Everything goes according to plan and all 20 participants are ready to film in the early afternoon. But of course, we cannot do everything today, so we make a filming schedule depending mainly on the locations of the shooting. Tomorrow we will all go to the Kotor Bay to produce a number of films there, so today we try to do as many films as possible that play in our around the workshop venue.

There is a chess tournament in town and we can convince some of the participating children to play chess for our cameras. Jovana (15) has a story to tell about a father who killed himself and left his family behind. She uses the king on the chess board to symbolize the father and asks herself whether or not the family has done everything possible to protect the father. Because in the end, when the king falls, the whole game is lost.

Next in line is 14-year-old Ena from Kotor. She is telling us a story about a young girl torn between her mother and her father. We use the "three cups" and a little bit of magic and the dice that is thrown into the scene hides under the "Mother cup" and then under the "Father cup" and then under the "Child cup". Or was is the "Father cup"? Or the "Mother Cup"?. It gets really confusing and that is exactly what Ena wants to show. She is clearly of the opinion that it is best to grow up with both parents.

Milica (15) from Tivat is alone on the stage in the workshop venue. She switched the light on and show us the different things hidden under white sheets. A painting, a wheelchair, flowers and wedding rings. This all does not fit together and the story Milica tells in her voice-over shows that we have a very special situation here: a drama on a stage that does not take place on the stage but in real life.

After dinner the sun goes down and it is getting dark in Cetinje. Not dark enough yet, so we all go to the basement and film a horror movie. Maria (14) from Risan has dressed up like a ghost. She wants to film a real shocker about a girl who was basically destroyed by her parents, a drug addict and and alcoholic. She is haunting them now and it is already safe to say that this is going to be one of the scariest OneMinutesJr videos ever produced.

There are more films in the pipeline and almost ten are planned for shooting tomorrow in and around Kotor.